Google Glass App Gives Tesla Owners a New Remote Control

An enterprising developer has come up with a way to marry two of tech's most interesting products, the Tesla and Google Glass, through a clever app.

Perhaps the two hottest technology innovations capturing the attention of early adopters are Google Glass and the electric car company Tesla. But somehow—aside from industry chatter that Google might do well to acquire Tesla—no one thought to link the innovative products together through technology. Until now.

A San Jose-based developer has launched a Google Glass app called GlassTesla.

On the project's website, the unofficial app is billed as "wearable computing meets the electric car," and claims to give Glass owners to ability to control various functions of their Tesla vehicles. The app's developer, Sahas Katta, claims the app can use Glass to check the Tesla's battery charge status, stop and start the charging process, detect if any of the vehicle's doors or windows are open, and control the car's interior climate system. Katta also claims that the app can locate the Model S on a map, and honk the vehicle's horn and blink its lights in the event that an owner is trying to find it in a packed parking lot.

As for how Katta mananged to cobble the app together, he told one commenter via his Google+ account, "I just used what's out there. Nothing on the Tesla end was officially documented. Just trial and error! Hint: I took a deep look at their official Android app!"

Some may remember Katta for his Web design experiment a couple of years called Qawker, a Wordpress template that expertly mimicked the look and functionality of Gawker's dramatic redesign, which has since been scrapped.

This latest foray into hacking together a high-profile developer project may attract the attention of people like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who happens to own a Tesla and, of course, Glass. For now, however, the list of those with Glass and a Tesla is exceedingly small, given the cost and exclusivity associated with both products. If you happen to be one of the lucky few to own both, you can give GlassTesla a try via GlassTesla.com.

In other Glass news, Google gave the gadget's software a boost this week, most notably adding a browser of sorts. "We've been exploring ways to let you quickly dive deeper and get exactly the information you need, right when you need it," the Glass team said in a Google+ post. "To test it out, search for something and then tap on the 'View website' screen to bring up the Web page."